League of Evil iPhoneReview

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8-bit death.

By Levi Buchanan

League of Evil is the 8-bit action game you always wanted but never knew existed. Developer Ravenous Games has spliced DNA from Super Meat Boy and Mega Man to create this brutal challenge of a platformer, easily one of the best iPhone games I have played in weeks.

Rendered entirely in deliriously cool 8-bit art, League of Evil throws your super agent into room after room of spikes, lasers, guards, and other one-hit killers. There is no health meter. You touch something that looks hurty, and you're dead. At least the goal is as singular as its challenge: kill the scientist at the end of each super-short stage with a vicious kick or super-punch. The faster you complete the stage, the more stars you earn, kind of like Angry Birds – if Angry Birds starred a badass pixel-art cyborg.

Exit Theatre Mode

Maneuvering through each mini obstacle course is an exercise in frustration – on purpose. League of Evil never holds your hand. But at least it extends rock-solid controls. Use double-jumps to vault over spike pits. Press against walls to slow your descent. It's wonderful platforming action, the kind I have consistently craved ever since I picked up Pitfall for the Atari 2600.

Thanks to a recent update, League of Evil now has over 100 stages. There's a briefcase in each stage worth collecting, which gives League of Evil some hot replay value. With stages lasting only 15-20 seconds, taking another lap to pick up errant cases was hardly an annoyance. It was a mild obsession.

(Special thanks to reader nccows for pointing this game out to me.)

The Verdict

Right now, League of Evil is $1.99. You were going to spend more than that on a crappy cup of coffee, so save yourself the so-called artisan sludge and download League of Evil. However, considering the frantic nature of its action, you may wish to seek out an alternate source of caffeine before playing. Your twitch skills will be tested.